WHISPERS OF THE RING
Fleeing into the Night"I told you we'd get lost if we went through the cornfield," Pippin nagged. "And then we went straight into that nasty bit of forest and now where are we, might I ask?"
Merry frowned and did his very best to ignore Pippin's words. A cold night spent on the run was not in his original plan, and it was quite unfair of Pippin to keep on about it as if it were all Merry's fault they wound up spending a sleepless night dodging about a scary forest. "And who had to steal himself a kiss, then?" He shot back, "That wasn't in the plan neither, was it?"
Pippin wrapped his cloak tight about him and dropped against a large, gnarled root. "Oh, let's stop, Merry; both the fighting and the running. I'm tired and hungry and us snapping at each other won't do anything helpful."
"You're right, Pip." Merry had to admit he was also very tired and hungry. "Let's find a good place to hole up. We can get a bit of cold supper in us, sleep, then meet up with Frodo and Sam in the morning." Merry cast about for a good hobbit hidey-hole while Pippin struggled to his feet again. A bit of a space beneath the roots of the very tree Pippin had been leaning against proved to be deeper than it appeared and quite comfy once they had cleared a bit more dirt out of it to make room for their sacks. As the settled in the light from the moon came spilling down into their hole, providing dim light and washing them with gray.
"Well now," Pippin chirped, heartened now that he was comfortable in their little earthen den, "Shall we see about something to eat?" The Company of Tomatoes, as Pippin had dubbed their group, had kept up the hobbit practice of six meals a day ever since leaving the Shire and due to their late evening pilfering, Merry and Pippin had sacrificed their supper--or was that their second supper? It took them several times longer to journey because of the time it took for the preparation and consumption of their meals! But of course, they hadn't felt the need to rush themselves at all. Frodo’s quest had given them a good excuse to see a bit of the world, but it was a leisurely tour they were taking, with much sightseeing and sampling of local beer.
"Well aside from the raw vegetables I snitched, what did we get?" Merry inquired through a mouthful of greens. He had plucked some wild rose leaves as they ran and was now chewing them up with the intention of applying the mess to his numerous bee-stings. There was nothing like a bit of chewed up rose leaf for taking the hurt from a sting, or so Sam had said the summer before when Frodo had been the victim of a bee sting.
"Oh," Pippin grinned at Merry, his eyes dancing with mischief, "Nothing much really, besides a lovely kiss from a lovely maid." He opened the now dirty tablecloth he had been lugging like a sack and spread out the corners so Merry could see their afternoon's wages.
Merry's jaw dropped in astonishment. "You rascal! Are you sure you didn't do nothing more than kiss Aidline?" He reached over and ruffled Pippin's hair. "You make me proud, Pip!" For on the tablecloth there was a fat coil of sausage, a cold fruit pie, half a round of some hard cheese, a loaf of rough bread (the tasty kind with all the bits throughout), half a dozen apples and a large jar of pickled eggs!
"It's not much, I know," Pippin began, "But it should last us a meal or two!"
Merry interrupted him with a huge, sloppy kiss on the cheek and a jostle as he moved over to let the moon light shine on the food better. Hobbits liked to see what they were eating after all. "Over then, let your elders have first pick!"
"My elder indeed," Pippin snorted as he wiped his cheek clean. "If you were Frodo saying that I might mind his words, but to have them come from your mouth is an open invitation to." Pippin was cut off as Merry shoved a pickled egg in his mouth.
"It isn't polite to talk with your mouth full, Pip," Merry mumbled through a mouthful of egg.
Pippin made an indignant noise and fell upon the food with gusto, determined to keep the bulk of it from Merry’s mouth!
They were revitalized as they ate, keeping silent except for grunts and exclamations of delight over the tastier bits of their bounty, but as their meal dwindled (an hour later) they began to slow down and chat.
"Oh dear," Pippin cried. "It looks like we forgot to remember to leave some pie for Frodo and Sam!" He turned the empty plate over and back again looking for an imaginary piece he could salvage his conscience with.
"Pie?" Merry groaned as he loosened his belt a notch. "I don't remember any pie." He gave Pippin a cheeky grin.
Pippin grinned back and popped the last of the pickled eggs in his mouth. "Nor eggs? I don't recall any eggs neither." They really were very good eggs, and the pie crust had been just flaky enough to seem to melt when it hit your mouth.
Merry pulled out his stout, clay pipe and began to stuff the brier with Old Toby. "I'm sure Frodo and Sam had a fine supper and are tucked away in a nice bed somewhere, as contented as any hobbit could wish."
"Well, this isn't so bad." Pippin sighed contentedly as he pulled a blanket from his pack. "Kind of homey actually." He cast a sideways glance over at Merry. "You're not going to light up in here are you? It'll get stuffy"
A quick glance out at the moon and Merry finished thumbing his brier and tucked the pipe away in a pocket. "No, course not, Pip! I just like packing a pipe after a good meal. Besides, if Ghead is still wandering about I'd not want my smoke giving us away."
If Pippin had nodded Merry would not have seen it as clouds had blocked the moon, plunging their little hole into inky blackness. The wind picked up a bit and clattered old leaves against the trunk of the tree and down onto the hobbits. Merry shivered, suddenly feeling like a mouse in a house with cats. Pippin curled up next to Merry and tucked in as close as he could get.
He was so young, too young really to be out seeing the world like this. Merry pulled a corner of the blanket over his feet but did not join Pippin in his slumber right away.